Kosovo U21 also defeats Cyprus

Kosovo’s U21 national football team has won its second consecutive match in the qualifiers for the 2027 European Championship at this age level.

“Kosovo’s hopes” beat Cyprus 2:1 on Wednesday evening at the “Fadil Vokrri” Stadium in Prishtina, coming from behind.

Hekuran Berisha scored from the penalty spot in the 69th minute and Lirim Jashari, assisted by Berisha in the 76th minute, cancelled out Savvas Kontopoulos’s goal in the 52nd minute. Cyprus finished the match with two fewer players. Georgios Angelopoulos and Zacharias Ioannides were sent off in the 78th and 85th minutes.

It was the penultimate match in qualifying Group A for “Euro 2027”, which will be hosted by Albania and Serbia next year.

Kosovo now has 14 points in third place after nine matches. Cyprus, fifth and second from bottom, has three points. San Marino is last with no points.

Finland leads Group A with 22 points, one more than Spain, which has a match in hand against San Marino.

Romania is third with 16 points.

Kosovo has no chance of qualifying for the next stage. Its best possible final position is third, but it must hope Romania fails in its final match against Spain. Kosovo must beat Finland.

Kosovo, led by coach Hekuran Kryeziu, plays Finland on October 6 at 19:00.